The Tale of a Red Rose
by Darth Annihilator
Summary: What if Ruby had an uncle on her mother's side who was linked to Summer's disappearance? How would this affect the RWBY world? Join Red Rose through the events of RWBY as he tries to become a decent uncle to Ruby and Yang while trying to forgive himself for what happened to Summer. What will happen to our accident prone protagonist? Who knows? Read and find out.
1. Prologue: The Meeting of Two Roses

**Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth, while I wish I could work on it with them, something would probably go horribly wrong if I did. I do own my OC Red Rose though.**

 **Well, to any new readers: Welcome and to any of my regular readers: Welcome Back, it's been a while since I last posted a chapter on any of my fics, but I'm back and hopefully here to stay for a good while.**

 **Anyway, for those of you that don't know me: Hello. my name is Darth Annihilator but please, call me Darth.  
I just recently got into the RWBY series and have just finished binge watching all the episodes so far and, well, I FREAKING LOVED IT!**

 **It left me with a number of ideas for a fanfic and this is my first attempt (so please be nice).  
** **Anyway, I've rambled on enough now so I'll shut up and let you read this chapter.**

* * *

 **Prologue: The Meeting of Two Roses**

We begin our tale on a dark and stormy night as a tall man clad in a black, hooded cloak walked into a local inn.  
Ducking his head to avoid hitting it on the doorway as he walked through it, he approached the bar.

"I'd like to rent a room for the night, do you have any spare?" he asked the bartender when he reached the bar.

"Certainly sir, under what name would you like to rent a room and what type would you like?" replied the bartender, producing a scroll and cycling through some notes, likely a spreadsheet of what rooms were available.

"Rose and whatever's cheapest" answered the man, who shall be dubbed 'Rose' for now "I'm fine with anything so long as I have a bed that I can sleep on."

"Rose… Rose… hang on sir, it seems you already have a room reserved… Ah, here we are: Room 11, courtesy of a woman that wanted to see you" the bartender said before pouring a glass of clear liquid and handing it to him "she also ordered this for you, half a pint of lemonade with two shots of vodka."

Rose looked at the drink before sighing "Just to make sure that you've got the right Rose, can you tell me what this woman looked like?"

"Black hair, creepy mask and I think she had red eyes, it wasn't easy to tell with the mask… Anyway, she said she was an old friend" was his response which caused Rose to pick up the drink and take a swig.

"Yeah, friend's one way of putting it" Rose muttered loudly enough for the bartender to hear and walked off, up the stairs near the bar and into a door marked with the number 11 which he hesitated in front of for a moment before sighing and pushing open the door. Inside was a woman sat at a table, she had long, shaggy black hair, red eyes and was wearing red and black armour, a black skirt and knee length black boots. Leaning against the wall near her was a sword sheathed in a large, rectangular scabbard with a wheel that had different colours at the top and on the table in front of her was a mask resembling the face of a Nevermore Grimm. She smirked when he entered the room.

"Red, it has been some time" she said, smirk never leaving her face as he walked across the room and sat down, lowering his hood to reveal a pale skinned face with a scar that appeared to resemble tear mark running from just above his right eye down to his lower jaw. His eyes were blood red and – if one looked closely enough – appeared sad; he had red hair that darkened the further it got from his roots until it was completely black at the tips, a couple of locks fell down in front of his left eye.

"Raven" the now named 'Red' replied before narrowing his eyes at her "why are you here?"

"Can't a lady check in on old friends now and then?" she asked lightly, smirk growing wider.

"She can but you don't just "check in" on people, least of all me" Red answered as his left hand drifted below the table to grasp something under his cloak "and I think we both know that you're no lady."

"Ooh, you are in a mood today. What's wrong? Your searching turn up yet another dead end?" Raven snarked back, scowling at him for the lady comment.

"Enough, you wouldn't just come here to goad me, what do you want?" Red said, closing his eyes and taking another swig of his drink. Raven dropped her smirk for a more serious look.

"Fine, I'm here to tell you what I told Qrow: Ozpin will fail and Beacon's going to fall, but what I didn't tell him is that your nieces will likely be caught in the middle of it all" her words caused Red's eyes to shoot open and he pinned her with a serious look.

"How do you know this?" he asked.

"Dark forces are beginning to move and they're preparing for something big, I've seen it; Beacon will need you if it is to have any hope of weathering the oncoming storm" Raven replied, looking him in the eye to show him how serious she was about the matter.

"Well, you've become quite the poet but why are you telling me this?" Red responded, his eyes daring her to lie to him "as I recall, you care for nothing but your little tribe of thieves and killers; you didn't even care enough for your own daughter to stick around and raise her, so – if this is all true – why tell me?"

"Because the ramifications of what's to come will affect my family too" Raven snapped, giving Red a glare that would cause even the bravest of Grimm to turn and flee "and don't ever presume to lecture me about my parenting again, not after you walked out on your own flesh and blood to go chasing after ghosts and false hopes! Does your niece even know who you are?"

"Are you implying that I would leave my remaining family without protection? When Qrow isn't around, I protect them from any and all threats. And to answer your question: yes, she does know me" Red retorted, fixing Raven with his own death glare.

"But as family?" Red's silence said it all "Hm, thought not."

"Was that all you came here for or was there something else" Red asked as Raven stood up, fastened her sword to her waist and picked up her mask, she turned to look at him.

"There is one more thing, I heard in the grape vine that your niece regularly visits a certain Dust shop" she answered, placing the mask under her arm "it's going to be robbed in around about three days time."

"Are you threatening my niece, Raven Branwen?" Red replied, his voice lowering dangerously as the sound of a barrel rotating was heard, followed by a click "I'd advise choosing your next words wisely."

"Hmph, as if I'd threaten the daughter of my sister in all but blood" Raven scoffed, rolling her eyes at Red, though her spare hand moved towards her sword.

"I seem to recall you loudly proclaiming your hatred and disdain for her when you left"

"A lot of things are said in anger, some of them aren't true."

"Uh-huh, even if I believed that I'm still brought back to a question I seem to be asking a lot this even: Why are you telling me this? You gain nothing from letting me know this information" Raven walked past Red, opened a red and black portal before looking at him out of the corner of her eye and smirking.

"Why Red, can't a girl just want to protect her niece?" she asked before entering the portal and closing it behind her, leaving Red alone in the room with his thoughts.

' _If I want to protect her, then I'll have to head to this shop and make sure this robbery doesn't harm any innocents… but that would mean calling off my search early. Wait, WHAT AM I THINKING?! Sis would make my hide into a new jacket if she caught me even considering abandoning her daughter to danger in favour of looking for her, plus it's been a while since I saw the little jewel'_ he thought before he nodded, downed the remainder of his drink and strode out of the inn like a man on a mission (throwing the bartender a handful of Lien on the way out) _'Watch out Vale because Red Rose is back in town!'_

Scene Change – From Dust Till Dawn, three days later

A bunch of henchmen dressed in black suits were in the process of robbing the Dust shop named From Dust Till Dawn when one of them saw an individual dressed in a hooded red cloak, scowling and drawing his sword (a red curved blade) he advanced on them.

"Alright, get your hands where I can see them!" he said as he advanced on them but the individual appeared to be ignoring him "Hey! You got a deathwish or something? I said hands in the air!"

He turned the individual around to reveal a girl around the age of 15, she had extremely pale skin, silver eyes and back hair that slowly lightened until it was a dark red colour at the tips, she was wearing a black blouse with a black waist cincher with red lacing and a skirt with red trimmings, she was also revealed to be wearing a pair of red headphones with a rose emblem on both of the earpieces. The henchman pointed at his ear to signal her to take the headphones off, she did so and revealed that she was listening to a rather loud rock song.

"I said hands in the air, NOW!" the henchman barked causing the girl to narrow her eyes at him.

"Are you… robbing me?" she asked.

"YES!" snapped the henchman back prompting an "oh" and a smirk from the girl before she hit him and sent him flying through the air; unfortunately for the henchman, while he was in mid-air, a person wearing a black cloak leaped through the air and kicked him into a nearby bookcase, causing it to collapse on him.

"Hey, mind if I cut in?" the person said, the hood of the cloak having fallen off during the manoeuvre, revealing him to be Red.

"Not at all" replied the girl, smiling at him before they both looked at the bookcase Red had kicked the henchman into, causing Red to look apologetically at the shopkeeper.

"Whoops, sorry about that. I'll pay for a new one" he said before they both heard a smashing noise and saw that the girl had thrown a henchman (and herself) through the shop window, Red winced when he saw it "Ouch, that looks painful… and expensive."

The girl straightened up as a rather large black and red scythe unfolded, which she held on her shoulder before twirling it a couple of times and stabbing its blade into the ground as a rather catchy rock song played in the background until she turned her headphones off with a clicking sound.

"Aw, I liked the music" said Red as he stood next to a man wearing a long white coat with red lining and a black bowler hat, the man had green eyes, long orange hair which was swept across his right eye and he was smoking a cigar. The man sighed and swung the handle of his cane up into Red's face, knocking Red backwards.

"Okayyy, you five: get him. The rest of you, get her!" he barked as five henchmen drew their red blades and circled Red and the rest climbed out of the window after the girl.

"Ow, jeez, what was that for?" complained Red before he noticed his predicament "well now, this is a bit awkward. You boys should really put those away before you hurt yourselves."

The henchmen looked at each other before one of them charged, Red flipped over him and elbowed a second henchman in the face before kicking a third in the stomach and knocking him away.

"Really guys, one at a time? This isn't a rubbish action movie, you know" Red taunted before the fourth and fifth henchmen charged him at once but he merely grabbed one and threw him into the other "So you ARE capable of learning."

The henchmen all looked at each other again before they all charged Red at once but Red merely backflipped over them at the last second, causing them all to crash into each other. He then kicked the first henchman into a nearby wall, threw the second into the third, causing them to fall down in a heap, followed by Red kicking the feet out from under the fourth and punching his head down into the floor. Red then punched the fifth in the stomach and threw him into the wall by the back of his neck.  
The second and third henchmen had gotten up by this point and charged Red again, blades drawn but Red just dodged the first strike and backhanded the second henchman into a wall before he grabbed the scabbard of the second henchman's sword and used it to beat down the third henchman, ending it with an upwards strike to the henchman's jaw that sent him into the air and crashing down painfully.

Red turned to see the girl climbing up a nearby ladder to a rooftop after the white coated man and sighed.

"I'd better get up there before Ruby gets herself killed" he muttered before starting off after her.

PoV Change, Third Person – Ruby Rose,

Well, it wouldn't be wrong to say that today had been an odd day for Ruby Rose. First she had almost been robbed in one of her favourite Dust shops, then she stopped the robbery alongside a familiar looking man and finally she'd been witness to a frankly awesome fight between a Huntress and some random person as the guy in the white coat tried to escape in a Bullhead. The person had managed to distract the Huntress long enough for the Bullhead to pull away but Ruby wasn't going to let them escape so easily, she shifted Crescent Rose into its Sniper Rifle form before firing round after round at the Bullhead.

"THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" Ruby shouted to the Huntress, getting a look from the Huntress in question.

"Not for long" the Huntress replied as a loud THUNK sound was heard, they both turned to see what appeared to be a jagged orange portal appear in front of the Bullhead, they watched as the man who'd helped her stop the robbery leaped out of the portal and landed on the Bullhead, grabbing the sword that was sticking out of the Bullhead's plating, he proceeded to run along it towards the tail, making slicing motions with the sword until he reached the tail and jumped off, landing on the roof and sheathing the sword on his back as the Bullhead fell apart and exploded behind him.  
The cool display was then ruined by a shout from the Huntress.

"RED, YOU IDIOT! THAT WAS OUR SUPPORT! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO CATCH THEM NOW?!" the Huntress yelled at the newly identified Red as Ruby looked back and saw that another Bullhead was quickly retreating in all the commotion caused by the explosion.

"WELL IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT ALL OF THESE FLIPPING BULLHEADS ALL LOOK THE SAME NOW IS IT?! JUST HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL THE DIFFERECE BETWEEN AN ATLESIAN MILITARY BULLHEAD AND ONE STOLEN BY THE WHITE FANG IF THEY'RE ALL THE SAME EXACT SHADE OF GREY WITH NO DISTINCT MARKINGS?!" Red shouted back, waving his arms around to emphasise his point "Seriously, you could at least paint some numbers on them or something to distinguish them from each other. I mean, whose idea was it to have them all coloured steel grey? Henry Ford?!"

As the Huntress (whose name she learned was Glynda by listening to the argument with half an ear) and Red continued to bicker, Ruby realised just why the man was familiar: he was friend of her uncle, Qrow that he'd brought round to visit her from time to time and he was even allowed to look after her sister, Yang, and herself when neither Qrow nor her father was around to do so.

Now, Ruby wasn't as close to Red as she was to Qrow and she certainly wasn't close enough to call him "uncle" but she was close enough to feel comfortable tackling him and shouting his name in joy when she hadn't seen him for a while, which is exactly what she did.

"RED!" Ruby cried excitedly as she barrelled into him, Red turned when he heard the shout only to have the wind knocked out of him as he was hit by the red and black missile "OH MY GOSH! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! Did you miss me?"

"I did until you started doing that" Red deadpanned but he had a small smile on his face showing he was joking, he then ruffled her hair "good to see you, little jewel."

"As touching as this moment is, I think we should report what happened here to the police" interrupted Glynda which gained her identical "Are-You-Serious" looks from both Red and Ruby which caused her to recoil at how similar the two were acting.

"Wow, you really know how to ruin a moment, don't you?" they said in unison before the trio proceeded to the local police station where Red and Ruby found themselves in a stereotypical investigation room with Glynda pacing behind them.

"I hope you two realise that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly. You put yourselves and others at risk and don't even get me started on that Bullhead Red destroyed!" Glynda ranted as she paced, eventually walking around to the front to face the two of them. Now that Ruby wasn't in combat, she took in more time to observe Glynda; Glynda was a blonde woman with green eyes with a pair of ovular glasses, she was also wearing a white long-sleeved, pleated top that has a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs that flare in pleats at the wrist, a black high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and black-brown stockings, black boots with brown heels and a black cape with purple lining. The cut of the cape was stylized to end in flames and arrows, with a row of diamond-shaped bronze beads on the back.

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back and a slap on the wrist" Glynda continued, slamming her riding crop down on the table to emphasise her point getting an "eek" from Ruby and a "tripe" from Red as both recoiled away from the crop.

"I swear you enjoy hitting things with that whip too much" complained Red, getting a supressed laugh from Ruby and a glare from Glynda; ignoring this, he continued "Why do you have one in the first place? You don't even have a horse!"

"Silence Red!" snapped Glynda, glaring at him even more as Ruby tried her best not to laugh at Red's antics. Glynda took a deep breath to calm herself and then continued "But there is someone who wants to talk to you… BOTH of you."

A man then entered the room carrying a plate of cookies and a mug of what appeared to be coffee. He had brown eyes and silver hair as well as a pair of dark glasses perched on his nose, he wore a dark green suit with a light green shirt underneath.

"Ruby Rose… you have silver eyes" he said leaning in close before noticing Red next to her "And if it isn't Red, still causing trouble I see."

"Hey, I don't go looking for trouble! It finds me and then complains that it bit off more than it could chew" Red responded, shaking his head dramatically, much to the man's amusement.

"Indeed, so Ruby, where did you learn to do this?" the man asked, tilting his head towards Glynda's scroll which was playing footage of Ruby's fight at From Dust Till Dawn.

"S-Signal Academy" she answered nervously.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" he pressed.

"Well, one teacher in particular" Ruby replied, getting a nod from the man.

"I see…" the man said, sliding the cookies along the table to Ruby which she then began to eat (Red tried to steal some but had his hand slapped away each time), the man watched them for a moment before taking a drink from his mug and speaking again "It's just I've only ever seen one scythe user of that skill before, a dusty old crow."

These words prompted Ruby to try to say something but it came out garbled due to the volume of cookies in her mouth, realising this, she swallowed and apologised

"Sorry, that's my uncle Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal, I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing and now I'm all like Howaaah, Watcha…." she started doing a series of karate moves before she hit Red in the face and knocked him (and his chair) over "Whoops, sorry Red."

"Why are people always going for the face today?" he complained, the man smirked at Red slightly before turning his attention back to Ruby.

"So I've noticed" the man muttered before placing his hands on the table "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well, I want to be a Huntress" Ruby answered.

"You want to slay monsters?" he pressed.

"Yeah, I only have two more years of training left at Signal, then I'm going to apply to Beacon…" Ruby said before launching into a tangent about her reasons for wanting to becoming a Huntress and how her sister was going to Beacon this year. She stopped when she realised that she was subject of a weird look from Glynda and a raised eyebrow from the man.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked and Ruby nodded.

"You're Professor Ozpin, you're the headmaster at Beacon" she answered causing his mouth to twitch upwards in a smile.

"Hello" Ozpin said, a hint of humour lacing his tone.

"Nice to meet you" Ruby replied.

"You want to come to my school?" he asked, though it sounded almost like a statement, Ruby nodded.

"More than anything" she answered as Ozpin let out a "Hm" and turned to Red who had picked himself up off the floor and was now reclining in his chair with his hands behind his head, eyes closed and feet on the table.

"And what would you say, Red?" Red opened an eye when Ozpin said his name.

"If what I saw tonight is any indication of her regular combat ability, then Ruby will just be held back if she remains at Signal" he answered before closing his eye again and missing the confused look Ruby sent Ozpin, who looked amused when he caught it.

"Despite how Red may act, he is known as a Huntsman of considerable skill and – more importantly in this case – his harsh criticisms of people's combat prowess and abilities, so if he openly admits that he's impress by yours – like he did just now – you can take it as high praise indeed" Ozpin explained to Ruby as a look of realisation slowly came on her face before she started pestering Red about why he hadn't told her he was a Huntsman, much to Ozpin's amusement.  
He looked at Glynda and she let out a noise of disapproval before he turned and smiled at Ruby.

"Well Ms Rose" he began, after taking a drink from his mug "I'd recommend that you head home and start packing, term starts shortly and you wouldn't want to be unprepared for attending Beacon, would you?

After Ruby had finished thanking Ozpin, she dashed off home leaving Ozpin, Glynda and Red alone together. As soon as she was gone, Red immediately stopped reclining and sat up straight with as serious look in his eye.

"Just what was that all about Ozpin?" he asked the man, suspicious of the headmaster's motives.

"Just helping a girl achieve her dreams, you said yourself that Signal would only hold her back. It's time for her to take the next step towards achieving them" Ozpin answered lightly before his eyes hardened and his voice became serious "but let's talk about you Red, you've been carrying out that search of yours for over a decade with only rare visits, although they have become more common in the past 5 years. What brought you back now?"

"Oh, you know, the big birds were making too much noise for my liking so I decided to take a break, that and I received word that my niece was potentially in danger so I returned to see if someone needed to lose a couple of limbs" Red answered with a slightly psychotic smile at the end.

"Well, now that you're here, the way I see it is that you have two options available to you" Ozpin began, ignoring the concerning look on Red's face and the words he just said "First, you could continue your search that hasn't turned anything noteworthy up in almost a decade, or you could put it on hold and join me at Beacon and watch over Ruby and Yang."

"And why would I do that? They'll be at Beacon, one of the safest locations on the whole of Remnant, what could they possibly need protecting from in there?" Red asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know as well as I do that dark forces are on the move and they will not hesitate to use children to strike at the heart of places we thought of as safe, the only way you'll be able to ensure Ruby's safety is to watch over her at Beacon as Qrow will not be able to any more… plus it will give you an opportunity to actually fulfil the promise you made to Summer years ago" Ozpin answered, taking a drink from his mug after he said the last bit and watched as a dark but guilty look came over Red's face.

"Just what are you implying Ozpin? Ruby knows me perfectly well as you could see today, besides how would you even explain my presence at Beacon? The last I checked, I was still banned from teaching by the Council because I accidentally put Fire Dust in Oobleck's coffee" Red replied, sending Ozpin a warning look which the man proceeded to ignore.

"She knows you as a friend and not an uncle, Summer wanted her to know you as an actual family member, not an old friend of Qrow's!" snapped Ozpin, sending Red a glare of his own "But if you wish to be stubborn about it, that's your business. Anyway, if you chose to accept my offer, the Council has given me permission to give you a position as both a T. A. and a sort of bridge between the students and the staff… a counsellor of sorts, if you will."

"Great, so I'm supposed to help out students with their issues? Forgive me if I think you've finally gone crazy Ozpin, but I don't think that's a good idea" Red muttered, rolling his eyes but Ozpin heard him.

"On the contrary, it would give you more freedom to deal with issues like discrimination against the Faunus. As it stands now, it's difficult to prove that discriminatory behaviour has taken place, especially when certain families start throwing their weight around" Ozpin looked at Red over the rim of his mug which hid his smirk "It'll be a healthy reminder to all that Beacon does not tolerate discrimination of any kind."

"Are you sure you're not just using me to try and scare them into behaving?" Red deadpanned causing Ozpin's smirk to grow.

"The thought had crossed my mind, yes. So what'll your answer be, come to Beacon and watch your nieces or continue with this search of yours?" at this, Ozpin noticed that Red look conflicted so he stood up, walked around the table and placed a comforting hand on Red's shoulder "Look, I know that you feel responsible for failing to bring Summer back to her family but going on like this isn't helping anyone, you're just wasting time that you could be using to give your memories of Summer to Ruby, allowing her to get to know her mother in a way. If you must punish yourself for your perceived failure, then do so but don't punish Ruby as well, besides Summer wouldn't want to see you like this."

"You think so?" Red asked, a single tear falling from his eye and following his scar down his face.

"I know so and you do too" Ozpin answered gently "Our time is limited and what little we have is precious, don't squander yours by letting a chance like this slip through your fingers."

Red sighed before standing and facing Ozpin, a look of determination in his eyes.

"Do me a favour Ozpin and never go into politics" he said as he walked around Ozpin and headed for the door.

"So I'll be taking that as a yes then?" Ozpin asked rhetorically but he got an answer in the form of a nod anyway, Ozpin's brow furrowed before he spoke again "A word of warning Red, you can't run from the past forever and I won't help you. Questions will be asked about why there are two Roses at Beacon, particularly by those who were close to Summer."

"I know and you're right" Red threw over his shoulder, not stopping even to look at Ozpin "It's time I stopped running and started being the brother Summer believed me to be."

He reached the door and opened it but Ozpin had one last thing to say to him:

"A word of advice before you go, Red: Don't forget that Summer didn't have only one daughter."

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 **Right, well that's what I've written so far, feel free to let me know what you think: what's good, what's bad and what could be improved.**

 **As a general rule: any and all feedback on my fics is welcome, provided it is phrased in a polite and comprehensible manner, flames that are unhelpful will be ignored.  
If you're going to give me constructive criticism, I'd prefer that you provide examples of what was bad/needed improving and how to improve it for future reference, but that's just a personal preference.**

 **Anyway, please let me know what you think of my OC Red, at some point I'll post a full bio for him under the OCs list on my profile if anyone wants more details on him, and as I said earlier: any and all feedback is welcome be it a Review, Favourite, Follow or PM. I'd like to get as much feedback as possible on this fic as possible, particularly this chapter before I even consider continuing it as it is a new fic and all.**

 **Well, I think I've run out of things to say, so thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it so far.**

 **Until Next Time**

 **Darth Annihilator - out.**


	2. Chapter I: The Shining Beacon

**Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth and I do not claim to own any of it (though I would love to work on RWBY alongside them... just saying...), all I own are the characters you likely don't recognise and the idea for this story, so without further ado, let's get into the fic.**

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 **Chapter I: The Shining Beacon**

We resume the tale a couple of days after Ruby thwarted the attempted Dust Shop robbery, in Beacon Academy where Glynda and Ozpin appear to be having something of a disagreement.

"Ozpin, as much as I respect your judgement on the staff you hire, I must question whether it was a good idea to bring Red back to Beacon" Glynda said, pacing in front of Ozpin's desk while the man in question merely sat at his desk, mug in one hand and a Scroll in the other, looking over the current year's applicants to Beacon. When Glynda had finished talking, he glanced up at her.

"And what is the basis for your doubts on Red, Glynda?" Ozpin asked in amusement at the Deputy Headmistress' obvious dislike of Red Rose "The man is undoubtedly a competent Huntsman as well as reasonable at teaching; if I remember correctly, some of the highest grades in years were achieved during his time as the Combat Class teacher. He's also highly competent with Aura Manipulation, a field that you were complaining that we were understaffed in just last week, so what is the problem with him?"

"Aside from the fact that the man is insufferable at least half of the time?" Glynda retorted, raising an eyebrow at the silver haired Headmaster "I'm not doubting his ability, more of his personality. He was considered unstable after THAT particular incident – he admitted it himself – but goodness knows what effect losing Summer had on his psyche. He's been mostly out of contact for a DECADE, Ozpin. You can't tell me that you know him to be stable after that!"

Ozpin sighed and took a drink from his mug, which – despite popular belief – was not filled with coffee, it was in fact filled with hot chocolate.

"While it is true that I cannot confirm how stable Red's mental state is, I can make an educated guess based off of the fact that both Qrow and Taiyang have trusted him with looking after Ruby and Yang on occasion, and you know how paranoid those two can be, especially when it comes to the safety of Ruby and Yang" Ozpin replied, fixing Glynda with a pointed look "We've also been warned about the possible fall of this academy from Raven of all people and I will not allow any of the students to be put in needless danger because I failed to protect them and the academy adequately."

"So you've deemed the current staff of Beacon – whom, I may add, are some of the best in their respective fields as well as some of the best Hunters on Remnant – as well as the entire Vale Military as 'inadequate protections' based on the words of the leader of a bandit tribe, and your solution to this is hiring ONE Huntsman?!" Glynda asked incredulously, slightly insulted by Ozpin's apparent dismissal of the capabilities of herself and the rest of the staff. Ozpin merely sighed and massaged his temples.

"I know full well the capabilities of the staff, Glynda. However, I would be a fool to ignore Raven's warning, especially when she hears things that even our best agents would likely miss. Red is merely an additional layer of protection for the students as well as an assistant for the staff when teaching and patrolling, you can't be everywhere at once, after all" Ozpin answered Glynda's question before taking a drink from his mug and changing the subject "So what do you think of this year's applicants?"

Glynda's brow furrowed and she opened her mouth, likely to question Ozpin on his sudden change in subject before the elevator let out a "Ding" as the doors opened and the subject of their conversation entered Ozpin's office. Glynda shut her mouth and shot Ozpin a suspicious look, which he just smirked and shrugged in response to.

"You called, Headmaster?" Red said as he entered, blood red eyes scanning the room as he approached the two at Ozpin's desk.

"Yes, Glynda and I were just going over the applicants for this year and reviewing their transcripts, we thought you might want to help with that as it would help you adjust to some of your duties this year" Ozpin replied smoothly, returning his attention to his Scroll as Glynda pulled hers out.

"Doing someone else's paperwork, got it" Red muttered, pulling his own Scroll out and looking over some of the transcripts before stopping on one, frowning in confusion at it "No offence Ozpin, but how on all of Remnant did this student get approved for Beacon? His grades barely count as passing and his attitude leaves a lot to be desired. Seriously, there are multiple counts of racist behaviour towards Faunus here as well as numerous – albeit mostly unconfirmed – reports of bullying. This is the type of student you take now?"

"Look at the name on that transcript and you'll get your answer, Red" Ozpin replied, prompting Red to do so and see the name "Cardin Winchester", the youngest son of the Winchester family. The Winchesters were a Vale based family that rose to fame and fortune by manufacturing weapons and tools for the militaries of the Four Kingdoms – particularly Vale – though the family business had recently seen a decline in the weapons manufacturing side. Still, the family's influence had apparently not diminished too much in Vale, as seen by the fact that Cardin had been approved for Beacon despite his poor grades and attitude.  
Upon seeing Red's eyes narrow in understanding, Ozpin showed him another transcript.

"What do you think of this one?" Ozpin asked him, Red's eyes scanned over it and at first didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but then he noticed something which Ozpin picked up on "See anything interesting, Red?"

"More like the exact opposite, this transcript is the embodiment of average. This 'Jaune' fellow doesn't even have a note of a detention or absence from class, yet there's no commendations for exemplary behaviour either" Red answered in confusion at the apparent contradiction, getting a nod from Ozpin.

"That's because this transcript is fake" Ozpin said, getting looks of disbelief from both Glynda and Red, as they were wondering why Ozpin approved it when he knew it was fake. Seeing their looks, Ozpin decided to explain further "I approved this Jaune's transcripts because it shows that he was either capable of hacking Beacon's systems to put his fake transcripts in there, or he has the resources to get someone else to put the transcripts in our system. Both are quite useful skills for a Huntsman to have, especially during reconnaissance missions…"

Any further explanation from Ozpin was cut off by a loud explosion from Beacon's courtyard, they all sighed.

"Doubtless some idiot was transporting Dust in unsecured containers again, I'll go and make sure no one was hurt" Red muttered before heading towards the elevator as Ozpin and Glynda returned to reviewing the transcripts.

Scene Change – Beacon Courtyard

"… I guess I did go a little overboard when designing her" came the recognisable tones of Red's niece from just ahead of him. After Red had left Ozpin's office and gone down to the courtyard, he'd been informed that a girl with a red hood had exploded due to another girl in white waving poorly sealed Dust containers about, he then decided to check on Ruby to make sure there'd been no adverse effects from the explosion and found her showing off Crescent Rose to a blonde guy that he recognised from the photos of the transcripts as Jaune Arc.  
Jaune was around six feet, one inch in height with messy blonde hair and blue eyes, he was wearing a white diamond-shaped chestplate cut off above his lower abdomen and white spaulders with rerebraces set under them alongside a pair of brown wrist-length gloves with exposed fingertips and small metal plates over the back. Underneath the armour, he wore a black short-sleeved hoodie with detached reddish-orange sleeves that was mostly covered by the chestplate. He was also wearing blue trousers that resembled jeans with a white patch on the left knee, as well as black. He also had two belts crisscrossing his waist, both different shades of brown, with a pair of small pouches on them. He was holding a sword with a sheath that doubles as a collapsible shield strapped to the left side of his hip.

"Considering the blade of that scythe is almost as big as you are, I'd say you did" interjected Red as he approached, smirking as the two jumped and whirled around to face him, Ruby's face lit up when she saw him.

"Hey Red, guess what? I got into Beacon two years early, how cool is that?" she squealed in excitement as she collapsed Crescent Rose down to its rectangular form, which she then placed on her lower back, Red quirked an eyebrow at her antics.

"It's very cool Ruby, I know your mother would be proud of you… and jealous" Red smirked, ruffling Ruby's hair much to the chagrin of the girl in question as she playfully batted his hand away "Anyway, what are you two doing here, shouldn't you be in the amphitheatre by now?"

"Well, we kinda got lost, so I decided to compare weapons with Jaune here" Ruby answered before spotting the hilt to Red's sword poking up above his right shoulder; as he was wearing his cloak mostly towards his left side, the hilt could easily be seen and presumably easily accessed by the Huntsman if the situation came up where he would need his sword; since Ruby hadn't seen his sword that often, she couldn't help but ask for more information about it "Hey Red, do you mind showing us yours?"

"Hm? Oh, sure" he replied, drawing it and holding it horizontally so the two could see it clearly: it was a fairly long sword with a double-edged blade and a handle that was long enough for it to be comfortably grasped with both hands but lacking a guard. There was also a rotating barrel embedded just above the hilt, this barrel had six different colours on it: white, black, red, green, blue and yellow, near to the barrel and underneath the handle was a trigger as well as a randomising button on the top of the handle. Occasionally a spark of electricity could be seen on the blade **(A/N: If the description doesn't help you picture it, just think of Raiden's HF Blade from Metal Gear: Rising Revengance with a rotating barrel imbedded in the hilt of the sword as well as a trigger underneath the handle and a button atop the handle directly over where the trigger is located).**

"This is Gambling Rose" Red began, seeing the awed looks on his niece and her friend's faces "She's a High Frequency Sword with a built-in modifier that changes how my Aura interacts with the oscillating current that runs through the blade, which thereby changes the properties the blade can exhibit – that's the barrel in the hilt, by the way – the different properties the blade can exhibit are shown by the six different colours on the barrel. The barrel is fitted with a randomiser controlled by the button on the handle, this randomly selects a colour on the barrel" here, Red showed the two by pressing the button which spun the barrel, resulting in the barrel coming to a stop on the colour white.

"It seems a bit risky, what if you need a specific property of the blade in a battle and the randomiser picks the wrong one?" Jaune asked, getting an approving look from Red.

"Excellent question, Mister Arc. See this trigger here? This allows me to rotate the barrel at will and thus choose the properties that I want or need, when I desire" Red answered, proving his point by pulling the trigger, which caused the barrel to rotate to green and stop with a click. This in turn caused the blade to glow with a light greenish hue, which was cut off when Red sheathed the sword again and started to explain the name of his sword "That is why I call her Gambling Rose, random chance of a favourable outcome but the outcome can be controlled if one knows how, just like gambling in real life."

"That doesn't really sound like gambling to me…" muttered Jaune which gave Red a slight smirk.

"You'd be surprised Mister Arc, but I was thinking more along the lines of Poker when I designed her: it's mostly random chance that decides what cards you get, but there are ways to control the game with sufficient knowledge and skill" he replied getting an uncertain nod from Jaune and a mystified look from Ruby as she'd never played Poker.  
"Now, as I recall, we're supposed to be in the amphitheatre by now."

As Red led Ruby and Jaune to the amphitheatre, Ruby suddenly realised that she didn't know why Red was at Beacon, surely it wasn't for training as she knew that he was already a fully-fledged Huntsman. When she voiced her questions, Red just smiled at her and told her she'd "find out later" before the trio arrived at the amphitheatre.

"Ruby! Over Here! I saved you a spot" came the jovial voce of Red's other niece as they entered the crowded building, the group looked to where the voice had come from to see the blonde ball of energy that was Yang Xiao-Long waving enthusiastically at her sister with a wide grin on her face.

"Well, I believe that we've found the amphitheatre so this is where I leave you" Red said to the pair of Hunters-to-be and headed for the stage at the front of the amphitheatre where Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch were located.

"Okay, bye Red" Ruby called after him, which he acknowledged by raising a hand and waving to her. When he reached the stage, he was greeted by a glare from Glynda.

"You're very nearly late, Red" she chastised him, getting a shrug in response.

"Nonsense Ms. Goodwitch; I am never late, nor am I early but rather arrive…" he began but was cut off by the blonde teacher.

"…Precisely when you mean to?"

"No, at precisely the time I get to my destination" Red finished with a smirk which earned him a tap on the head from Glynda's whip "ACK! Would you stop hitting me with that whip?!"

"I'll stop hitting you when you actually behave like a regular human being!" Glynda snapped back, hitting him again with her whip.

"I swear you enjoy hitting me with that thing WAY too much" Red grumbled as he tried to take it off her, resulting in a slight scuffle between the two over Glynda's weapon. The students in the amphitheatre watched the antics of the two in bewilderment as Ozpin sighed and rolled his eyes before turning his microphone on, getting everyone's attention.

"I'll keep this brief" he began, pushing his glasses up his nose and saw out of the corner of his eye that Glynda had blasted Red away with her semblance and was currently brushing the dust off her clothes; Red, on the other hand, merely recovered from Glynda's attack, opened a rift behind him and backflipped into it, exiting from another rift next to Glynda and stood still, watching Ozpin.

"First, to the upper years who are no doubt wondering why they are here: I am pleased to announce that we have made an addition to Beacon's staff for this year and he will likely stay on until the current First Years have graduated. Please extend a warm welcome to Red Rose, who will be acting as a teaching assistant to the professors of Beacon and as a counsellor for the students." At this, Ozpin gestured to Red as the students clapped politely and Red bowed in acknowledgement before moving up to the microphone to speak.

"I don't have much to add other than feel free to come to me with any issue, it doesn't matter what it is – be it extra combat practise or just for a quick conversation – I'll do my best to assist in any way I can" Red said before returning to his previous spot near Glynda and Ozpin began speaking again.

"Now, to the initiates: You have travelled here in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. You plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time here at this school will show you that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step" Ozpin finished, his eyes taking one last glance at all the students in amphitheatre before walking off and Glynda took his place.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed" she said curtly before turning and walking away with Ozpin and Red. As they left, they heard a certain male student's attempts at flirting.

"I'm a natural blonde you know" was the line in question, much to Red's amusement.

"Looks like we have a Casanova in Beacon this year" he remarked, getting a smile from Ozpin that was hidden behind his mug and a half-hearted glare from Glynda.

"Please try to refrain from mocking your students, Red" she said, concealing a smirk but – unfortunately for her – Red saw it.

"Did you find that funny?" he asked.

"Of course not, I am above such crude humour" Glynda replied.

"Nope, I definitely saw a smirk."

"Delusions are not a desirable quality of teachers at Beacon."

"Good thing I'm not a teacher then… wait, did you just call me deluded?"

"I would do no such thing."

"You did! Ozpin, Glynda's being mean to me."

"Leave me out of your little spats" Ozpin replied as he entered the elevator to his office and closed the doors, cutting off Red's whining about Glynda's so-called "meanness".

"Red, I would advise you get some sleep tonight. You're on patrol in the forest tomorrow during initiation" Glynda said to him curtly before turning and heading for her office.

"Erm, not to be a pain but where am I sleeping?" Red asked, realising nobody had shown him where his office would be.

"The Counsellor's office near the dorms, but I know you prefer to stargaze so we've added a route to the roof in it" Glynda answered, not looking back. Red turned and headed for his new office, deciding to rest before initiation tomorrow.

Scene Change – Ballroom

PoV Change – Third Person, Ruby Rose

"It's like a big slumber party" said Yang cheerfully as she threw herself down on the sleeping mat next to Ruby.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys though" Ruby replied, not even looking up from the letter she was writing.

"I know I do" Yang shot back cheekily before making a purring sound. Ruby just rolled her eyes, knowing that though Yang like to tease and act a bit flirty, she actually wasn't interested in any form of romantic relationship until she finished her Huntress training.

"What's that?" Yang asked, catching sight of Ruby's letter after being put off from watching the posturing males by Jaune walking by in a blue onesie.

"A letter to the gang back at Signal, I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going…" Ruby answered, looking into the distance thoughtfully before getting interrupted by Yang.

"Aw! That's so CUTE!" Yang cooed before she was cut off by a well-placed pillow to the face, courtesy of her annoyed sister.

"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to Beacon, it's weird not knowing anyone here!" Ruby snapped at Yang.

"What about Jaune? He's… nice" Yang replied, trying to lift Ruby's spirits "There, plus one friend. That's a one hundred percent increase."

"I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend, back to zero" Ruby responded in a slightly depressed way as she turned to lie on her back.

"There's no such thing as a negative friend, you've just made one friend and one enemy" Yang said, but her (fairly terrible) attempt at cheering Ruby up was met with another pillow to the face, this one designed to look like a cartoonish dog face.

"Anyway, what about Red? You know him quite well, I'd have thought welcome seeing a familiar face" Yang continued, causing Ruby's face to gain a thoughtful look.

"I'm not sure what to think about him to be honest. I've just found out we share the same surname and we even look alike, that makes me wonder if we're family. If so, why didn't he tell me? Is he ashamed of me?" Ruby trailed off as her mind continued to conjure up scenarios to explain why Red would keep his surname secret from her, few of them good. Yang saw the distress her younger sister was in and tried to soothe her worries.

"Hey, if it bothers you that much, just ask him the next time you see him" she said, which didn't soothe Ruby much.

"But what if the answer isn't what I want to hear? Would you want to know a member of your family abandoned you because they're ashamed of you?" Ruby asked Yang in a rare moment of visible weakness, she didn't see Yang's eyes darken at the question.

"Ruby, trust me, it's better to ask and not receive a favourable answer than it is to never ask, otherwise the question will just eat at you forever. Besides, if he is ashamed of you or anything stupid like that, then you're better off not knowing him" Yang answered, ruffling Ruby's hair, Ruby was about to respond when they were both distracted by the sound of a match being struck.

"That girl…" Ruby thought out loud when the two sisters looked over to see who had struck the match, she was a black-haired woman with amber eyes, wearing a large bow that resembled a pair of cat or wolf ears from a distance. Ruby immediately recognised her as the girl who had talked that "Weiss Schnee" girl down in the courtyard earlier.

"You know her?" Yang asked.

"Not really, she was in the courtyard this morning but left before I could say anything" Ruby explained.

"Well, now's your chance" said Yang before picking Ruby up and dragging her over to where the black-haired woman was sitting, waving cheerfully as she gave a loud greeting.

"I believe you two may know each other" Yang said as she finished dragging her protesting sister who turned her back on Yang once she'd finally been released. The woman in black merely looked up from her book at the duo.

"Aren't you that girl who exploded?" she asked Ruby, apparently recognising her from the courtyard incident.

"Err, yeah, my name's Ruby… but you can just call me crater…" Ruby trailed off, realising she was about to give Yang the knowledge of the (quite frankly ridiculous) nickname she'd been given by Jaune that morning "Actually, you can just call me Ruby."

"Okay" replied the woman uninterestedly, returning her gaze to her book.

"What are you doing?" Yang whispered to Ruby.

"I don't know, help me" Ruby hissed back.

"So… what's your name?" Yang tried again to get the woman to engage in conversation.

"Blake" the woman replied after letting out an aggravated sigh.

"Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister… I like your bow."

"Thanks."

"It goes great with your… pyjamas."

"Right…"

"Nice night, don't you think?"

"Yes, it's lovely, almost as lovely as this book… which I will continue to read… as soon as you leave" Blake's voice had an annoyed tone in it towards the end of her statement.

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause" said Yang as she turned and started to leave before Ruby's voice caught both their attentions.

"What's it about?" Ruby asked, getting a confused noise from Blake "Your book, does it have a name?"

"Well, it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body" answered Blake, caught off guard by the question.

"Oh yeah, that's real lovely…" input Yang, rolling her eyes.

"I love books, Yang used to read to me every night. Stories of heroes and monsters…" Ruby trailed off with a nostalgic look of her face before continuing "They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress."

"And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?" Blake asked, with a slightly amused tone in her voice.

"I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right and protected the people who couldn't protect themselves" Ruby explained.

"That's… very ambitious for a child, unfortunately the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale" Blake replied, slightly pessimistically but Ruby wasn't deterred.

"Well, that's why we're here: to make it better" Ruby's mature response was then ruined by Yang bursting in with a declaration of pride in Ruby and embracing her in a bear hug. Ruby was not amused by Yang's antics and responded with a punch aimed at the face which then descended into a playful sisterly fight that apparently disturbed some nearby cats (if the noises were any indication).

"Well, Ruby, Yang, it's a pleasure to… Blake was interrupted by a certain white clad heiress storming over.

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realise some of us are trying to sleep?!" Weiss began angrily before noticing just who was making the noise, while at the same time, Ruby and Yang ceased their brawling and looked at the new arrival.

"OH, NOT YOU AGAIN!" Yang and Weiss snapped loudly in unison, Weiss glaring at Ruby and Yang glaring at Weiss.

"Shh, guys, she's right, people are trying to sleep" Ruby said hurriedly, looking around the room and seeing that people were extinguishing candles and getting into sleeping bags, ready to sleep.

"Oh, now you're on my side?" Weiss barked irritably, immediately gaining the ire of Yang.

"I was always on your side!" Ruby snapped back, shortly followed by Yang's contribution.

"Yeah! What's your problem with my sister?! She's just trying to be nice!" the irate blonde added, giving the heiress a death glare.

"She's a hazard to my health, doubly so if she actually is related to that Rose fool we saw at the briefing this morning!" Weiss shot back, taking the sisters a tad by surprise.

"Why do you think we're related and what's your problem with Red anyway?" Ruby retorted in defence of her (possible) relative.

"Oh puh-lease, you can't say you're not related to that idiot! You look alike and even have similar dress sense as well as equally annoying personalities; if your surname was Rose, I'd say he was your parent, or at least a close relative!" Weiss paused from her mini rant to gather breath before continuing "As for my problem with him: he has no place in Beacon whatsoever! Did you see how he was acting around Ms. Goodwitch this morning?! He showed absolutely no professionalism and instead acted like a five-year-old child! How he ever got into Beacon is quite beyond me, and for that matter, it's quite beyond me how YOU ever got into Beacon also!"

Before Yang (whose temper had been building during Weiss' speech) could say something nasty and escalate the situation further, Blake blew out her candle, enveloping the room in darkness. Realising that everyone else had turned in for the night, the fighting girls returned to the sleeping bags and quickly fell asleep, wondering what the next day would bring.

* * *

 **Well, it has been a while, my beloved readers. I've not updated any of my fics since about February. Now, there are some good reasons for this: I'm entering Third Year at Uni, meaning I had to do my dissertation project over summer and thus I won't have as much time to devote to FF, however I hope that the time between future updates is not as long as this one. Also, my computer broke because of (I was told) rogue Windows 10 updates and I had to get it fixed, but it had to be fully wiped because when it broke, I followed some of the suggestions I was given and partially wiped the memory; so I had to start all my chapters off from scratch.  
These weren't the main reasons why it took so long though, the main reasons were about 35% Writer's Block and 65% Laziness, so I do sincerely apologise for making you wait so long if you were eager for another chapter in this story.**

 **Now onto the fun stuff: Some of you may be wondering what "THAT particular incident" is referring to; well, it'll be explained in a couple of chapters but I'll be nice and give you a hint: I took inspiration for it from the Dragon Age series. Now, I won't confirm or deny any guesses as to what it may be as I want it to be as surprising as possible but feel free to speculate =P**

 **Some fans may also claim that Glynda's comments towards Red are out of character, but I disagree. Glynda is shown to have quite a dry (is that the correct term?) sense of humour during the show, such as when she breaks up the food fight between Teams RWBY and JNPR and all she says is "Children please, do not play with your food". It seems to particularly show itself when she's angry at something (again, as shown by the RWBY vs JNPR food fight), so I attempted to channel that when Red riles her up.  
Also, people may say I made Weiss a bit too harsh. I'll just say that I may well have done so, Weiss (particularly Volume 1 Weiss) is a hard character for me to write as she has a delicate balance between general (pardon my language here) bitchiness and everything else throughout the show; If I write her as too bitchy, it looks like I'm bashing her (which is not my intention) and if I write her as too nice, it lessens the significance of her character development in later episodes where she becomes more tolerant of her team-mates. In short, I may have gotten the balance wrong and if I have, I apologise for that.**

 **So, what do you all think? Do you like how I wrote Red in this chapter? Hate it? Not bothered? Let me know with reasons why. I'd also welcome any other feedback you can give me, especially for spelling, punctuation and grammar (please be very critical for those) as well as possible ideas for how you want the story to go in the future; there won't be too many AU elements until late Volume 2/early Volume 3 but I welcome any input from readers.**

 **As always, my standard reviewing rules apply: All feedback is welcome be it a follow, favourite, review or PM, PMs and reviews are welcome provided they are worded in a polite and comprehensible manner, flames will be ignored, some form of constructive criticism is ideal in your review but not necessary.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and until next time,**

 **Darth Annihilator - out.**


	3. Chapter II: First Day of School

**Disclaimer: I feel it necessary to inform you that Darth Annihilator does NOT own the show RWBY. If he did, Lancaster would either be canon by now or very close to canon. Nope, RWBY is owned by RoosterTeeth and will remain in their possession for the forseeable future.**

* * *

 **Chapter II: First Day of School**

The tale continues shortly after Beacon's initiation ceremony had been completed, most of the relics had been gathered without incident, but eight initiates had somehow managed to get on the wrong side of two Ancient Grimm – a Nevermore and Deathstalker to be specific – but had managed to survive by working together and had gone on to form Teams JNPR (Juniper) and RWBY (Ruby), led by Jaune Arc and Ruby Rose respectively. We join Red in his office, going over lesson plans with Glyna.

"Red, pay attention! I will not have my class become the laughing stock of the school because you have the attention span of a squirrell!" Glynda snapped at him, brandishing her whip threateningly in his direction.

"Well it's hard to concentrate when SOMEONE takes a fiendish delight in hitting me with that damn whip" Red retorted, but Glynda simply struck him over the head with her whip "OW! WATCH WHERE YOU SWING THAT THING!"

"And mind your language while you're here, one Qrow Branwen is quite enough!" Glynda scolded before she shifted some papers and handed them to Red "Now read these over and tell me what you think."

"Lesson plans?" Red muttered as he skimmed through them, making occasional comments under his breath "They look good to me except for one thing, I want us to spar in the first lesson for the First Years."

"Why?" Glynda asked, narrowing her eyes at him "If this is just so you can get out of teaching that day…"

"Nothing of the sort" Red interrupted, rolling his eyes at the Deputy Headmistress' paranoia "It's to show the students the level we expect them to reach when they achieve their Hunter Licences."

"And you expect them to be at our level in just four years?" Glynda said incredulously, slightly baffled at Red's apparently unrealistically high expectations for his students "I'll admit you're a good teacher, but you're not that good."

"Of course not, but I DO expect them to remember that the purpose of a Hunter is to protect both Humans and the Faunus from the Grimm, no matter the personal cost. Too many students come in with visions of glory and delusions of grandeur, completely ignoring WHY we exist and it always get them killed" Red replied, Glynda's eyes softened as Red's shoulders sagged and eyes showed a multitude of regrets "Such a pointless, pointless waste of life. Hate to see it."

"Red, we can't stop them, and we can't save them all. We can only prepare them and – if needs be – die for them. It's our burden as teachers and professional Hunters" Glynda said softly, placing her hand on Red's shoulder. Red simply looked at her.

"Try telling that to the grieving families left behind" he sighed before turning back to the lesson plans, having noticed something "I see no mention of bringing in guest instructors in these plans. Any particular reason for this?"

"The main one is that most people I'd ask are either already teachers or have no interest in – or aptitude for – teaching" Glynda explained, getting an understanding nod from Red "Though if you know anyone who would come in, I'd be happy to talk it over."

"Hm, I might be able to get Frost or King in, though I'd probably have to restrict King to lecturing only" mused Red, Glynda making a noise of agreement behind him.

"That would be wise, I have no desire to have to fix the damages King would cause" Glynda commented before she had a thought "What about Mr. Stark and Mr. Talon?"

"Stark's still in Atlas, the last I heard was that he was working on another project. Phoenix has vanished, I've no idea what he's doing now" Red answered, getting a nod from Glynda.

"Well, it may interest you to know that Mr. Stark is currently working on making mechs, he just sent a prototype mech to Argus last week that's designed for fighting against Leviathan-class Grimm. He's also scheduled to be exhibiting some of his latest weapon designs around the Four Kingdoms before the Vytal Festival, which gives us an opportunity to get him in as a guest" Glynda told Red, her words giving him a thoughtful look.

"I'll look into it. Anything else?" Red asked, to which Glynda shook her head, gathered up her papers and turned to leave.

"Get some sleep, the first day is generally the most hectic" she said before walking out and closing the door. Red rolled his eyes when she was gone.

"You'd think I was a new teacher with the way she's treating me" he muttered, amused by Glynda's attitude before he decided to follow her advice and get some sleep.

* * *

The next morning brought with it introductory lectures from Professor Port in Grimm Studies and Doctor Oobleck in World History before Combat Class started in the afternoon.

"Good afternoon students and welcome to your Combat Class. For those of you that do not know, I am Glynda Goodwitch, the Deputy Headmistress of Beacon Academy and your Combat Class instructor. I will not tolerate any messing around or ignoring my instructions. Failure to pay attention in this class could result in serious injury or death, do I make myself clear?" Glynda's introductory speech was met with wide eyes and scared nods from the students as Red stepped forward.

"Greetings students, I am Red Rose, the assistant instructor to Professor Goodwitch and I'm going to tell you how this class will work. As you have this class a minimum of twice a week, the lessons are divided into two types, the first type will see Professor Goodwitch select two students at random to spar with each other under standard tournament rules, when the spar finishes, Professor Goodwitch will give both combatants feedback and select another two at random; this will continue until the end of the lesson. The second type will involve a student being selected to spar against me, this will allow me to get an idea of your combat style, thus allowing me to give you feedback on how to improve" Red continued where Glynda left off, getting more nods from the students but he could see some scoffing at him. He narrowed his eyes, making a note of those that scoffed as Glynda continued.

"Now Red and I will spar to show you the standards that are expected of professional Hunters in combat, standards that each and every one of you are expected to work towards reaching during your four years here at Beacon. You will observe this fight and see if you can pick out the mistakes that we both will include in our fighting styles, there will be a quiz afterwards so it is in your best interest to pay attention" Glynda said as she activated the Hard-Light shields around the Amphitheatre before she turned to Red "Are you ready, Red?"

"When am I not? Now shall we begin? I'll let you go fi…URK" Red was interrupted by Glynda flicking her whip upwards, which caused him to be thrown violently into the ceiling. He was held there for a few moments by Glynda's semblance before he was released and began to drop. Red quickly drew his sword, pushing the randomiser as he did so and slashed downwards in Glynda's direction, his sword taking on a blue glow as he did so and a crescent of blue light was shot at Glynda, who quickly flicked her whip again causing a small mass of rock to erupt from the ground and block the crescent, though the rock shattered when the crescent hit. Glynda flicked her whip upwards again before making a twisting motion with it, making the rubble rise and begin spinning at high speeds before she jabbed her whip in Red's direction, making all the rubble fly at Red.

Red – who had landed by now – moved his feet until they were horizontally in line with each other with a gap the same size as the width between his shoulders between them. He then sliced his sword horizontally, sending out another blue crescent which destroyed several of the oncoming shards before he pushed the randomiser again, the barrel landing on red this time. Red smirked as he used the flat side of his blade to block the remaining pieces of rubble, the rocks appearing to melt as they hit the sword. He then darted forwards towards Glynda and unleashed a series of slashes on her, tongues of flame following the blade as it arced through the air, making it harder to concentrate on the actual path of the sword.

Glynda used her whip to deflect all the slashes except the last one, which she caught using her semblance. The two remained locked like that for a few seconds, both staring the other down before Red launched a kick at Glynda's side, which she blocked with her free arm before sending a kick into the back of Red's knee, making his leg buckle as breaking the lock as he fell. Glynda used this opportunity to infuse her semblance with Ice Dust, generating blocks of ice and pelting Red with them relentlessly as well as creating a thin layer of ice everywhere around the battlefield except where she stood. Red attempted to stand but the barrage of ice blocks and the icy field made this impossible, instead making him flail rather embarrassingly like a fish out of water. Eventually he lost his grip on his sword as well and it went spinning through the air towards Glynda, who raised an eyebrow before deflecting it into the ground.

Eventually the barrage ceased and Red was able to reclaim something resembling balance as he looked at Glynda and narrowed his eyes.

"If that's the way you want to play, I'm game" he muttered, eyes glinting savagely before he opened a rift and slid into it. Glynda's eyes widened as another rift opened and Red flew out of it, catching her with a punch to the face before he opened another rift and vanished before attacking again, this time with a flying kick into her back followed by vanishing into another rift. This continued for a bit, with Red's attacks getting quicker and more ferocious before he finished with an axe kick directly from above. Having finished his barrage of attacks, they stared each other again.

"All that for a minor change in facial expression?" Glynda mocked with a raised eyebrow as Red tensed to attack again but with a hidden flick of Glynda's fingers, his sword flew out of the ground, the handle clonking him in the nose.

"In the nose with my own sword? Dick move Goodwitch!" Red protested as his hands nursed his nose. When he lowered them, he caught a smirk on Glynda's face before she brandished her arms outwards, generating a shockwave with her semblance and sending Red flying as well as shattering the ice on the field. Red recovered to see thousands of ice shards raising up in the air before they all flew at him.  
He quickly raised his arms, forming a dome of crimson Aura in from of him which blocked all the shards but exhausted him in the process. Seeing this, Glynda grabbed him with her semblance and slammed him into the ground multiple times before tossing him carelessly out of the boundaries of the battlefield and embedding him in a wall.

"Under standard tournament rules, that would signify a loss for Professor Rose" she said as she turned to address the students, all of whom looked extremely intimidated by the brutality the Deputy Headmistress showed in finish the match. With an internal satisfied smile, she addressed them again "Now, can anyone identify any issues with that spar?"

"Professor Rose sucks" came a mocking voice from somewhere in the stands, getting a glare from Glynda.

"That will be a detention with me tonight for your disrespect Miss Vert" Glynda said coldly before turning her attention to the other students "Any more comments?"

Nobody answered as Red extracted himself from the wall he'd been thrown into and joined Glynda back on the battlefield.

"No-one? How disappointing…"Red drawled before raising a finger, spinning it around a couple of times before allowing it to come to rest pointing in the direction of a certain redhead "How about you Nikos? You've fought in a couple of tournaments so you should be somewhat familiar with watching your opponents for weaknesses and mistakes. See anything?"

"Ah… Well… There was only one major flaw that stood out to me" Pyrrha started nervously, getting interested looks from Red and Glynda "Professor Rose stood and mocked Professor Goodwitch which allowed her to move first and basically control the entire fight from thereon out. I noticed that he seemed to be quicker on his feet than Professor Goodwitch, so if he had attacked first instead of taunting her, he may have been able to get close quickly and severely damage her Aura reserves."

"A good point with a well-reasoned explanation behind it Nikos. Good to see your time in Mistral's tournaments wasn't wasted" Red praised her, causing the former champion to blush and look down in embarrassment.

"Anyone else have anything to add?" Glynda continued, noting that Weiss Schnee raised her hand in response to her question "Yes Miss Schnee?"

"Rose never used Dust during the fight, which put him at an inherent disadvantage to those who do" Weiss answered, giving Red a slightly condescending look. Glynda glared at her for her apparent disregard of Red's status as a member of staff.

"I will ignore your disrespect this once Miss Schnee as it is the first day, but from now on I expect you and all the other students to address Professor Rose as you would any other member of Beacon's staff. This the only warning I will give you students, the next time will be an instant detention" Glynda warned, making the students look at each other and whisper, a look from Glynda silenced them "Your statement has merit Ms. Schnee but it is also important to remember that the use of Dust can be as much of a hindrance as a help to its user and thus should be used with extreme caution"

"How about you Arc? Anything to add?" Red said, seeing Weiss' indignation build by the look on her face and wanting to avoid a scene, but also wanting to test Jaune to see if he had any analytical capabilities.

"What? Me? Oh no, no, no. Nothing of note anyway" Jaune answered, stuttering slightly in nervousness. A few students tittered but they were silenced by a glare from Red.

"I'm asking for observations, they don't have to have ground-breaking insight or anything" Red deadpanned, getting a loud snort from a student with burnt orange hair and indigo eyes. Red turned to address the student "Winchester, if I want your opinion, I will ask for it. Until then, shut up."

"Well… the only thing I noticed was that Professor Goodwitch appears to be a primarily ranged fighter whereas you seem to prefer melee combat, putting you at a disadvantage to her. If you had a ranged weapon, perhaps you could've lessened that disadvantage?" Jaune said in an uncertain voice, surprising both Red and Glynda with his fairly accurate breakdown of their fighting styles and suggestion to improve Red's.

"A fair point Arc, though I've designed my weapon to be able to execute ranged attacks, a sidearm wouldn't be a bad idea" Red admitted making the blonde male sigh in relief before Glynda decided to bring the lesson to a close.

"Remember this spar as this will be the standard to which you all will be held when you become professional Hunstmen and Huntresses. Next lesson will have you sparring with each other while myself, Professor Rose and occasionally your peers watch and give feedback, so ensure your gear is in a condition suitable for combat as I will not accept excuses about your weapons being broken or anything similar as a reason to get out of class. Now, class dismissed" Glynda finished her ending speech and the students began to trickle out, most of them discussing the lesson they'd just had. Red turned to face Glynda.

"Nice speech, you really know how to hold a crowd's attention" he complimented her, though she just brushed it off.

"It comes with the territory of being a teacher since I graduated from Beacon, though I will admit that I sometimes miss the freedom of being a part-time teacher over a full-time one" she replied nonchalantly as the two waited for the last of the students to leave before they headed off.

"So, what do you think of this year's bunch?" Red asked, getting a sigh out of Glynda.

"Their attitudes will need to be sorted out, I saw half the class messing around on their Scrolls after our spar ended and at least a quarter of them didn't even bother to take notes on the fight" she groaned. Red gave her an understanding nod.

"Typical teenagers" he said, getting an amused smirk out of Glynda.

"I seem to remember you once being like them" she teased.

"Who, me? Never…" he replied dramatically, waving his hands around for effect before they looked at each other for a second and Red began laughing. Glynda turned her head to mask her amused smirk as they reached the door to Red's office.

"Have a good night Red" Glynda said to him as she headed for her own office.

"You too Glynda" Red responded as he opened the door, crossed the room, sat down at his desk and reclined in his chair, wincing a bit as he did so.

' _I guess Glynda hit me harder than I thought'_ he thought, taking his Scroll out and fiddling with it for a bit before his eyes closed and he dozed off.

Some Time Later…

Red was awoken by a loud knocking on his door, after quickly arranging himself to appear a tad more presentable, he called for the knocker to enter. The door opened to reveal Ruby and Yang, one with a nervous expression on her ace, the other with a neutral expression.

"Ah, Ruby, Yang. I honestly wasn't expecting to see you so soon, please take a seat" Red greeted them with a smile, gesturing to a couple of chairs that were near his desk. The girls wordlessly pulled them up to his desk and sat in them, facing him. Red raised an eyebrow "Am I to assume that this is not a social visit?"

"No, Ruby has some questions for you" answered Yang, fixing him with a cold stare "Questions that I also want answered."

"I thought she might" Red sighed before turning his attention to Ruby, who as fidgeting slightly "Okay Ruby, ask away, though I'll warn you that I may not be able to answer every question you may have."

"Are you related to me, Red?" Ruby asked, getting directly to the point as Yang had opened her mouth with an angry expression on her face and Ruby didn't want her answers delayed by an argument.

"Yes, I am" Red answered simply, his answer silencing anything either girl had to say before he continued "Summer Rose was… IS… my twin sister."

"WHAT?! YOU'RE RUBY'S UNCLE?!" Yang roared, slamming her fist down on the desk in front of him, her eyes glowing scarlet and her hair glowing gold, heat beginning to rise from it.

"Yes" Red replied without flinching, keeping his face neutral as Yang bared her teeth and glared at him, she looked as if she was going to continue but she was interrupted by a quiet voice.

"Then where were you?" Ruby's head was down, hiding her facial expression and her voice quivered towards the end of her question, as if she didn't want to know the answer but needed to ask the question anyway. Yang's expression softened, and she sat down and drew Ruby into an embrace.

"The wilderness mostly, though I occasionally visited the major cities in the Four Kingdoms to rest and resupply" Red answered, as Ruby pushed Yang off, still not looking at either her or Red.

"Why? Why did you never tell me you were my uncle? WHY WERE YOU NOT THERE WHEN I NEEDED YOU?" Ruby shouted the last question, locking eyes with Red to show the tears running down her face. To show him the expression of devastation and anger that she now wore.

Anyone who knew Red well would have been able to see how the question affected him by watching his small movements: how his eyes remained closed a few seconds longer than usual when he blinked, how he inhaled and exhaled more deeply than usual to control his emotional state and how his brow relaxed slightly. Alas, Ruby and Yang did not know Red well and thus missed these signs that he was attempting to hold back his emotions at Ruby's outburst.

"There is no reason I could give for my absence that would not sound like an excuse" Red said after a short silence, closing his eyes and resting his elbow on his desk, fingers interlocked in front of the lower half of his face.

"And what does that mean? You're not going to tell us?" Yang sneered at him, though Red gave no sign that her words had affected him.

"No, it just means that my reasons will not sound adequate to you" Red replied, closing his eyes and massaging his temples. The sisters watched him silently, Ruby still with tears running down her cheeks. Finally, Red sighed and began to speak.

"The main reason for my absence from your lives is that I was looking for Summer after her disappearance, thus most of my time was spent chasing false leads and baseless rumours. I never told you of my relation to Summer because it never came up and never seemed important" Red averted his eyes from Ruby as he said the last sentence and missed her shocked look as a result. Yang, however, did not.

"That's it?! It wasn't important?! YOU NEVER SAID ANYTHING TO YOUR OWN DAMN NIECE BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT YOUR RELATION WASN'T WORTH MENTIONING?!" Yang snapped at him, grabbing him by the front of his cloak and raising her fist as if to punch him. Red just stared at her, waiting for her to strike but the expected strike never came.

"Yang, don't. It's not worth getting in trouble for" Ruby said as she put a hand on Yang's raised arm and gently pushed it down before she turned her head back to Red and looked him in the eye, the calm tone her voice had taken feeling worse than when she had lashed out "You didn't answer my question, why were you never there when I needed you?"

"You needed Summer and you had Qrow, Tai and Yang. You never needed me" Red answered, holding Ruby's gaze as her eyes widened and a final tear fell from her eye.

CRACK!

Red's face snapped to the side, blood running from his nose as Ruby drew her fist back, panting in rage.

"How dare you! I lost my mother, my father shut down and it fell to a seven-year-old girl and a grieving drunk to look after a five-year-old with no idea of what was happening around her and you STILL have the audacity to say that I NEVER NEEDED YOU?!" Ruby barked, striking him again and sending his head in the opposite direction, this time with a black eye. She brought her fist back a third time before looking at it and shaking her head "No, you're not worth it."

She turned to leave, missing the single tear that fell from Red's eye at her last words and the sheer feeling of anger and hatred in them. Yang almost missed the tear as it fell on the side of Red's head that was facing away from her, but she caught sight of it in a reflection in one of Red's windows behind him. Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly as Ruby reached the door. Ruby stood at the door briefly, not allowing either Red or Yang to see her face, though if either had been looking closely enough, they would've seen her shoulders shaking slightly.

"Do you even care? Did you ever care?" she asked, making both Yang's and Red's eyes widen in shock at the blunt question as both turned their heads to look at each other. There was a brief period of silence and Ruby opened the door but before she left, she heard a whisper. A whisper that she may have otherwise missed had she not been focusing to hear an answer from Red, regardless of what the answer would actually be.

"More than you will ever know" It was a simple statement but it made Yang turn back to Red in shock and Ruby ran from the office, head down so nobody could see what she was feeling or thinking. Yang looked between Red and the open door a couple of times before Red spoke to her.

"Go" he said, as he stood and headed for a back door in his office that had been left ajar "She needs you, perhaps now more than she ever has before."

Yang took one last look at her adoptive mother's brother before she followed her sister out of the door, shutting it behind her and leaving Red alone with his thoughts.

Scene Change: Beacon Courtyard

Yang found Ruby in the courtyard, near a statue of a man and a woman standing proud with their weapons nearby. She idly wondered if they were famous Hunters as she approached her sister and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Ruby had wrapped herself in her cloak with the hood up, concealing any indication of what she was feeling and Yang knew not to ask as it would just drive Ruby away. The two sat in silence for a while as a light breeze blew through the clearing, carrying with it the red, brown and gold leaves of autumn. Eventually, Ruby broke the silence.

"Yang…" she said, voice quivering slightly as she spoke, making Yang's heart ache at the sadness only one who knew Ruby as well as Yang did could detect in her voice "Promise me you will never leave me."

"I promise you Ruby, that for as long as I'm able, I'll never leave you" Yang replied as she drew Ruby into her embrace, feeling Ruby's whole body quaking as her younger sister pressed her head into Yang's shoulder. As Ruby did this, Yang bowed her head over Ruby's form and closed her eyes, just holding her sister in silence.

* * *

 **Well, that's a wrap. I hope you all liked this chapter folks as it has changed from what I originally envisioned for it, but I'm happy with how it turned out.**

 **Now, there are a couple of extras that I wrote for this chapter, but I decided not to include them as I'm going to try and make my extras a bit more on the comedic side and I felt that after the ending of this chapter, a comedic extra would be fairly inappropriate, but if my readers want me to add them in, just let me know and I'll edit the chapter and add them in after this Author's Note.**

 **So, that's all I really have to say on this chapter other than that all feedback on this chapter, regardless of whether it's a follow, favourite, PM or review, I only ask that all feedback is phrased in a polite and comprehensible manner. Unhelpful flames will be ignored.**

 **Well, Until Next Time,**

 **Darth Annihilator - out.**


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